A nickle for my pickles!

It is just barely the beginning of spring and I'm already considering the end of summer! To be honest, I'm already looking forward to December at work! But hopefully this post about pickles will give you some clever ideas of what to do with your harvest!

At the end of the summer, what do you do when your garden has cramped your kitchen? Give some to neighbors and friends? What do you do when your garden has flooded their kitchens too? PICKLE!! This is a great way to preserve your vegetables!! It brings a sweet and a sour twist to your crops!!

OK, OK, I know it’s a little pre-mature to be talking about pickles; people are still considering what to plant in their gardens!! Here is a list of things that are exceptionally delicious when pickled:

Peppers pickled with soy sauce

• Asparagus
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Peppers, Jalapeños
• Mushrooms
• Watermelon Rind

Before we go any further I have to say this: if you pickle your crops you’ll probably want to “can” them in mason jars. I’m not an expert, so do this at your own risk. It is a very simple process that if researched, can easily be successful! However, if you don’t do it correctly, some serious bacteria can develop and the outlook will not be good. “Can” at your own risk. 

This is an article about pickles.

Chillin' 'n Grillin' - Things to try this summer!

If you haven’t noticed, grilling season is right around the corner! Maybe for you hardcore grillers, the first one of the year has already come and gone. I envy you for that! I’ve missed grilling and I wrote this to satisfy my hunger for smokey deliciousness.  This season I urge you to try something new on the grill. That unique smokey, char, and woody flavor that develops when you grill something transforms ingredients beyond your imagination.  For example, try to grill an orange. Squeeze the juice, and taste it. It’s entirely different than freshly squeeze orange juice. Grilling gives ingredients a new depth of flavor. I have some things for you to try!

Beef - It's whats for dinner

Whats better than a perfectly cooked steak with some delicious mushrooms, and mash potatoes?

There are many things, but this is certainly a simple meal that you can make at home that will satisfy your hunger!!

First thing is first, when buying steaks, pork chops, or any kind of meat like this, buy it fresh. Don't buy a ribeye and put it in the freezer until you plan to eat it. Just don't.

So you have a wonderful (for the sake of this, a rib eye but this is the general technique to cook steaks) rib eye in front of you and you think to yourself: "I just spent $10 on you so you better taste great!" I will give you the simple steps to cooking a great steak at home. Here we go!

"real" good tacos

So as you guys have heard, someone is trying to sue taco bell for not having "real beef." First off, this isn't new news that taco bells beef sucks. This goes to the point that fast food sucks. If you want something worth eating obviously you aren't going to find it at taco bell in the first place.

Leave them be, they are doing their thing, you do yours.

"Regardless if you feel like making a trip South of the Border, you have to credit Taco Bell's gumption." - Eater.com


So anyways, for those looking for a decent simple, "authentic" taco to make at home, its so simple.

"Stars losing their shine"

Shortly after leaving BOKA, in Chicago, IL, they were awarded one Michelin Star. For some of those that don't know here is an explanation of the star. This is something to be very proud of for the staff, the owners, and the frequent diners as the star is something sought after by many chefs worldwide. This holds particularly true in  Chicago where the guide was just published for the first time this fall.
Michelin Guide, and their stars, are great; however, there are some discrepancies with the places they consider one star, two stars, or three stars.

MAN-wich! Friday Night "cheater" meals

 So if any of you guys are like me, you're on a diet. You should know I use the word diet sparingly. By diet, I mean I'm conscience of what I eat, and try to avoid the bad stuff. I try to not eat, or drink certain things late at night, and often make a protein shake to satisfy a late night craving (its better than nyquil! it puts me right to bed!). Also, if you're like me, you don't mind "cheating" every so often. By cheating, I don't mean go out order some french fries with cheese sauce and get a big fat juice buttermilk fried chicken sandwich with a garlic mayo and jalepeno poppers. If you're serious about getting fit, these kind of meals should happen rarely to never. But that is just my personal opinion.

So the question, how does E cheat when he wants to treat him self to a glutenous meal? Well if you're going to cheat you want to try to keep your goal in mind as much as possible. Let's keep in mind, if we can "cheat" and still kinda take a step towards our goal, why not! It makes it easier to feel less guilty.

Happy new year, happy weight loss, happy diets!

So after a long season of weight-gaining, also known as the month of December, it is only appropriate to consider the weight-losing season. Since December, I've personally been trying to be more health conscious knowing that in the new year I'd do my best to stick to my guns and do this thing for real. I want to get into the best shape of my life. As in anything, the first step is research and education. It just so happens that my good friend Tim Ward had planned to release his book, The Theory of Fat Loss, in December. What a great opportunity to educate myself!! So I bought a few of these to give to friends, and for myself obviously. As I'm nearing the end it is definitely an informative read! His concepts are straight-forward, obvious, and he puts things in a new light.

I guess I'll throw my apology in here:

Dear readers, I'm sorry it has been so long since the last post. My computer and I ran into some problems so that definitely delayed me in this post. Good news is, I have purchased a laptop and now I'm up and running again. With absolute confidence I say that I will continue to write and do my part in educating the world about food.
Please forgive me,
E

Back to the food. So with the season of weight-loss, I figured it'd only be proper to follow suit. For now I'll admit that I'm a follower, certainly not a leader of fat losing nutritional trends. Being that my new job, at the country club is seasonal and I am in the off-season now, I have a lot more time to dedicate to fitness and diet nutrition. More time than I could have ever committed to when I was working. Tonight I created a little Quinoa stew with pulled pork and spinach. When eating "healthy" let us remember that we don't have to always eat "Fat Free." Sure sure "fat-free while trying to get into shape," it all makes too much sense. But to be sensible, you're going to consume fat. It happens. Just don't eat this and then, drink 2 cans of soda, and have an icecream shake before bed. First rule is balance. Eat, live, and enjoy life with balance.

What is quinoa? Quinoa is an amazing SUPER GRAIN. It holds the title of being the only grain to be a complete protein all on its own. [ Naturally has a slightly bitter flavor. Easy to digest. High levels of dietary fiber, iron, magnesium ] -- my paraphrase from wiki. Read that page. Its great. So if you're tired of chicken, and are looking for some new meat, try out quinoa, it's a complete protein. Great for gluten-free, vegan, and other common food allergens.

The meal.